History of Heironeous/Chapter 17
And so Salan went unto the city which is called Aljerzon, wherein his army had mustered, and it numbered two hundred thousand of foot, and fifty thousand of horse, and two hundred seige engines, and two thousand fleet of foot who were his scouts, and it was the greatest army ever raised in those lands. #And Salan led his army forth, even unto the lands westward, from whence cameth the reports of the New Army of Hextor. #And the scouts came unto Salan, saying, We have seen this army, and it is great, yea, greater than this army, for every one of us there is ten of them, yea, and they are not human, nor elf, nor dwarf, nor halfling, but are large and bestial, with faces like animals and the wit of beasts, and they follow their general blindly. #And we have seen its emblem, for it is on every breastplate and every shield, and it is a fist, clad in mail and clutching six red arrows. #And we have seen their general, though only from a great distance, and lo he was tall, yea, as tall as a tree, and he had six arms, and in each hand he held a weapon. #And when Salan heard this, he commended his scouts, for they had gathered this information through great loss of life, and commanded them to depart out of his tent, and Salan was alone. #And when Salan was alone, he knelt down in his tent, and prayed unto Heironeous, saying, #My god, I know that thou commandest that our valour should be as our prayers, yet I pray unto thee, for I fear that valour alone will not be enough, for thy brother Hextor doth take the field, and I cannot stand against him, neither myself, nor mine army, and he stands not alone, but with him are many, yea, ten times as many as mine own army. #And as he was thus praying, a vision opened upon Salan, and he saw Heironeous upon his throne, and the fifty and four of the army of Heironeous that had died were with him, and Heironeous rose from off his throne, and took of a sword, and a shield, and a helm upon which was a crest, and a tabard, and a suit of armour, each of fine workmanship, and gave them unto Salan, saying unto him, #These items I have prepared for thee against this day, that thou mayest stand before my half-brother, and smite him, #For behold, when I was come unto my home, I found not Stratis, my other half-brother, for Hextor had slain him with his own hands, that he might gain the form that thy scouts have seen upon the battlefield, therefore, I charge thee as thy god and as thy brother to slay him, that justice might be done for Stratis, who was slain unarmed and without warning. #And know, my brother, that if thou falleth not in this battle, thou shalt be a hero, and tales of thy valour shall sound in the halls of kings forever, and many years shall pass before thou shalt enter my rest; #But if thou falleth in this battle against my half-brother, thou shalt be received into my rest, and shall be one with thy brethren that have fallen before, #Therefore go, my brother, and lead this army into battle, for unto this cause have I prepared thee, and given unto thee these things, but more importantly I have given unto thee my teachings, that thou mayest lead this army, and destroy the machinations of my half-brother, that he may not take this land, yea, and all the world into his captivity. #And the vision receeded, and Salan looked about himself, and saw the sword, and the shield, and the crest and the helm, and the tabard and the armour, as they had been in the vision, were upon his armour stand, and Salan gave thanks for the mercy of his god. Category:History of Heironeous